There are many critical areas that are well known as the cause of problems in the art of log splitting. These problems are associated with both hand tools, and powered devices--such as the screw type and powered wedge type, which are the more predominant log splitters on the market.
It is well known that hand splitting of logs is a difficult, physical task. Many devices are known to avoid the problems of the hand splitting difficulties. Those devices are known to be powered for the purpose of splitting logs. However, these devices suffer from innumerable problems. One problem from the current power devices is the fact that the log being split can become stuck on the wedge. When the log is stuck on the wedge, a substantial amount of hand work can be required to loosen the log.
One of the other typical problems of splitting the log is the presence of a knot in the log. The knots in the log are cross-grained, hard elements, which can jam the log splitting device and require a substantial amount of hand work with a hand wedge and mall--in an attempt to assist the log splitter with either the continuation splitting action, or the more difficult task of trying to remove the stuck log from the log splitter.
Also some of the prior art devices have semi-circular bases which cause excess log splitting forces when logs wedge against the semi-circular log holder. The prior art devices teach that the holding mechanism must position the log properly. The design of these holding mechanisms limit the size of the logs to be split. These devices are appropriate for positioning but not for splitting. During the splitting operation, the holding mechanism causes excessive forces on the powered machinery and does not achieve the desired results--including a clean, complete split of the log.
Additionally, a requirement of the powered log splitter of the prior art is that the ram does not meet the wedge--since if the ram did hit the wedge, the wedge edge would be damaged. Thus the log is not totally split by the power splitters of the prior art, and the strings or last knotty items of the log may not be split.
Additionally, a powered log splitting device must be designed to avoid the log getting stuck on the multi-wedge designs. Short wedge lengths avoid the structural requirements but leave the upper portion of larger logs unsplit, and require hand assistance to complete the split. Another problem is with the loading of larger logs onto the splitter. With these many problems, it is difficult to provide a powered log splitter which handles these situations.
It is also important that a log splitting device be flexible, while minimizing log splitting time by having a multi-wedge design, a fast cycle time and a capability of taking logs of many different diameters with knots and provide the excess force required to split the difficult logs without penalizing the cycle time for the majority of the smaller logs. The limitations on the size of the log being split should be minimized.
Hand loading of a log onto a log splitter can be a difficult task for larger log. It is desirable to have some assistance with this loading of the log into the log splitter. Also, this loading mechanism must avoid any interference with the splitting mechanism while the log is being split. But the built in cranes, hydraulic power lifts or other such devices, are cumbersome, costly, slow and time consuming to use.